Vehicle chassis construction



April 13, 1954 M. F. MENG VEHICLE cHAs'sIs CONSTRUCTION Filed Aug. 1, i949 Patented Apr. 13, 1954 VEHICLE' CHASSIS CONSTRUCTION Miles F. Meng, Osseo, Wis., assignor to Osseo Supply & Service Company, Osseo, Wis., a corporation of Wisconsin Application August 1, 1949, Serial No. 107,849

This invention relates to 1a vehiclechassis construction. i

`it is the object of the invention to provide exceptional flexibility in va wagon having an adjustable'reachjfeach of Ythe axles being free to pivot independently oi the other notwithstanding the adjustable feature and notwithstanding that the axles and the reach are'adequately braced.

lt is another object of the invention to yprovide further nexibility between the axles and the bed, the respective holsters being pivoted to the axles and provided with means `whereby 'they may readily be locked against tilting movement on their respective pivots.

It isla `further object of the invention to provide a vehicle having great clearance, the respective axles having their central portions offset upwardly from the stub axles upon which Vthe wheels are mounted.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a View in plan of a -chassis embodying the invention, portions of the reach being broken away to a horizontal section.

Fig. 2 is a view taken in section on the line 22 of Fig. l.

Fig. 3 is a view of the axle and bolster shown in Fig. 2, the bolster being locked against tilting movement respecting the axle.

Fig. 4 is a view taken in section on the line 3 Claims. Cl. 280-111) IAO l-4 of Fig. 3 showing the welded connection oi 151;.

the reach to the iront axle.

Fig. 5 is a view taken in section on the line 5mt of Fig. 3.

Fig. 6 is an enlarged fragmentary detail view showing the to the rear Fig. 7 is an enlarged fragmentary detail view in side elevation of the intermediate portion of the reach.

The front axle li! is typical of both axles, differing from the rear axle only in the provision of means by which the front wheels are made dirigible. Each axle is desirably made hollow in the form of a box beam which is offset upwardly from the axles of the wheels l. These wheels are rotatably mounted on the dirigible axles i2 which are pivoted on upright steering pins i3. The upper ends of these pins are carried by the 44 which project from lower end of suris. s of the axle it, the bottoms of the pins being carried by plates l5 projecting from the horns it which extend downwardly below the ends of the axle, as cest shown in Fig. 3. The usual tio rod at l? connects the stub axles i2 to turn in unison for steering.

swiveled connection of the reach jf Upstanding centrally on the front axle Ill are the front and rear ears I8, I9 across which extends the pintle 20 `upon which a bolster 2l is pivoted on the axle. The bolster desirably comprises an inverted channel as shown. the width of the channel being suiicient to receive the box axle ill. Thus, the front axle may tilt to either side to the 4extent indicated in Figj2 without affecting the level position of the bolster. Under sorse circumstances, where tilting is undesirable, I lock the bolster and axle against relative tilting by inserting the cross pins 22 into the apertures provided near the ends of the bolster, as cest shown in Figs and`5. The position of the apertures is such that the cross pins will rest upon, or substantially upon, the front axle lll thereby restraining the bolsterirom substantial tilting with respect to the underlying axle. Pairs of ears 2m are welded to the lower edges of the bolster 2l. When thebolster is tipped as shown in Fig. 3, these ears provide additional lateral lpport on the end which is lifted away from theaxle. l i l A wide range of adjustment is provided in the reach while, at the same time, the reach is braced to maintain it at right angles with the respective axles while accommodating complete freedom of tilting movement between the axles about the axis ci the reach so that the passage of any wheel of the vehicle over a bump or into a hole will involve no strain on the rest of the vehicle.

It is important, for the complete elimination or" strain, not only to provide for freedom of inclination of each axle respecting the other, but also to provide for free tilting of the bolster as above described, since a rigid bolster `would tend to impose strain on the load in the event of extreme tilting of either axle respecting the other. With the bolster free, such stresses are avoided.

The reach element 23 is tubular and is welded to the front axle ill at 24 being rigidly positioned by braces 25, 26, welded at their front ends to the axle and at their rear ends to the reach tube 23.

Telescopically adjustable in the tubular reach element E3 is the reach bar 21 which may be anchored in a desired position of adjustment by dropping the pin 28 through registering holes in reach elements 23 and 2l. As shown i1 Fig. 6 the bar El' has a swiveled connection with the rear axle, being provided with a head at 29 which lits Within the sleeve Sil on the rear axle and is held therein by a collar 3| welded or brazed into sleeve 3|! to confine head 29 against axial movement, while permitting free rotation.

The braces 32, 33 are welded at the rear ends to the rear axle and extend obliquely forwardly therefrom, and have their forward ends connected by welding or otherwise to a collaijf34 which is both rotatable and telescopically slidable upon the tubular reach element 23. As the bar 21 moves telescopically within the tubular reach element 23, the collar 34 moves telescopically on the exterior thereof, both the bar and the collar being connected with the rear axle. However, in the matter of rotation, the collar 34 is independent of the bar 21, the bar 21 being constrained by pin 28 to take its rotative position from the tube 23, whereas the rearlaxle is freely tiltable about the axis of bar 21 due to the swivel connection best shown in Fig. 6, and the collar 34 partakes of the tilting self-adjustment of the rear axle as it traverses irregularities in the highway.

From the foregoing it is' clear that the rear axle is free to pivot on the reach and that the front axle is rigidly connected to the reach. The front axle is, however, provided with the pivoted bolster 2l. Accordingly, when the vehicle is loaded, tilting of the front axle has no effect on the load carried by the bolster and tilting of the rear axle likewise imposes no strain on the load as the bolster is free to tilt with the load in accordance with the movement of the rear axle.

I claim:

1. A vehicle comprising front and rear axles having terminal downward offsets provided with wheels, a tubular reach element rigidly connected with one of said axles and extending toward the other, brace means rigidly xing said reach element substantially at right angles to the axle with which it is connected, a second reach element telescopically adjustable respecting the rst mentioned reach element, latch means for iixing the adjustment of the reach elements, a head upon the second reach element and a socket upon the other of said axles having head conning means providing a swiveled connection between the second reach element and the last mentioned axle, and braces extending obliquely from the last mentioned axle toward the tubular reach element, and a collar mounted rotatably upon said tubular reach element and to which the ends of said last mentioned braces are connected, in further combination with a bolster member centrally pivoted upon the rigidly connected axle whereby either axle may tilt with respect to the other without materially stressing a load imposed on said vehicle, said bolster member comprising an inverted channel having flanges provided with registering apertures, a pintle bolt extending through the apertures, and upstanding ears on the axle in which said pintle bolt is engaged.

2. The device of claim 1, said bolster being provided with stop pin means comprising conn pletely removable pins transversely spanning the channel adjacent its respective ends at a level for substantial contact with said axle, for restraining the pivoting movement of the bolster with respect to the axle.

3. The device of claim 1, said bolster flanges being downwardly directed to embrace said axle, said anges having downward extensions near their ends remote from the pivot whereby to laterally guide the bolster on the axle during extremes of tilting movement' of the bolster on the axle.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,120,036 Dearing Dec. 8, 1914 1,277,890 Evans Sept. 3, 1918 1,383,203 Hartsock June 28, 1921 1,886,722 Oppenheim Nov. 8, 1932 2,232,549 McNamara Feb. 18, 1941 2,400,803 Barnhart May 21, 1946 2,432,253 Schaeer Dec. 9, 1947 2,523,790 Thiel Sept; 26, 1950 

